Local child actress to receive CARE award in Hollywood: Michela Pantano of MOuntain Top to be honored for contributions to entertainment industry

Local actress Michela Pantano, center, poses with cast members Ty Pennington and Jillian Harris of Extreme Makeover Home Edition in July on the set of Extreme Makeover Home Edition during the filming of an episode in Baltimore, Md., in which the show built a home for teenagers. The episode aired in September.

Local actress Michela Pantano, 15, will be walking the red carpet to accept a unique Hollywood award. Pantano will receive a CARE Award from BizParentz Foundation on April 30 at Universal Studios Hollywood.

C.A.R.E., an acronym for Child Actor Recognition Event, honors 150 of the industry's young stars for their positive contributions to the entertainment industry.

To be eligible for the 2011 CARE Award, young performers must work professionally in 2010, demonstrate good academics, community service, union membership and acting study. Their parents must also take a quiz on their business knowledge of the entertainment industry.

Pantano is being recognized for her work on "One Life to Live" as a recurring high school freshman, Extreme Makeover Home Edition playing "mini designer" Jillian Harris, as a principal dancer in the upcoming feature film, "Dark Horse," starring Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken and in Kidztheater's off-Broadway production of AIDA.

She can currently be seen in a national Xbox Kinect commercial for "Carnival Games," and on the upcoming NBC Today Show's promo for the "Royal Wedding." She recently performed the role of Serena in FAME, the musical, with an all teen cast at the Phoenix PAC, Duryea.

A ninth grade honor student at Crestwood High School, Michela resides in Mountain Top with her parents, Michael and Beth Pantano, and sister Talia, 17. She is the granddaughter of Joseph and Joan Altavilla, Larksville.

Since age 3, Pantano has been a competitive dancer at the David Blight School of Dance in Wilkes-Barre. She also studies musical theater, acting and voice locally and in New York City. She hopes to attend NYU in the future majoring in the performing arts, with a minor in special education.

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